By the Numbers: #NEvCLB

Eight. That’s what the New England Revolution’s losing streak is now at, the longest such streak for the club since the MLS shootout era ended in 1999. In fact, one more loss will tie the club’s record nine game losing streak reached twice, in both 1997 and 1998 (notably the team had two regulation draws in each of those streaks that they went on to lose in the shootout).

Two more losses would tie the MLS record losing streak in the post-shootout era of 10, set by Real Salt Lake in 2005, their inaugural season as an expansion franchise. Outside of Salt Lake, Toronto FC is the only club to have reached a longer losing streak this millennium than the Revolution, hitting nine straight in 2012.

But with that unfortunate number for the club out of the way, what were some of the key stats that played a key role in New England falling 2-1 to the Columbus Crew on Saturday?

1 – New England scored just once in the match. They haven’t scored more than a single goal since beating D.C. United 2-1 on May 24th, their last win.

1 – Federico Higuaín’s free kick goal was the Crew’s first goal off a free kick (directly or indirectly) this season.

1 – A.J. Soares’ headed goal off a corner kick was New England’s first goal off a corner this season.

2 – Diego Fagundez led all players with two clearances off the line, keeping New England in the match. Lee Nguyen also cleared a shot off the line.

4 – It’s not much of a surprise to see the Revolution’s Andrew Farrell and Crew’s Gonzalez, both defenders, tied for the lead in tackles with four, but attacking midfielder Kelyn Rowe joined them with four tackles of his own.

4 – Patrick Mullins led all players with four fouls committed as the Revolution out-fouled the Crew 17 to 15.

5 – A.J. Soares led all players with five interceptions, while Scott Caldwell and the Crew’s Wil Trapp weren’t far behind with four each.

5 – Rowe was fouled more than anyone else in the match, winning five free kicks for New England.

5 – The Crew’s Bernardo Anor was dispossessed five times, leading all players.

7 – The Crew registered seven shots on target. Two of them resulted in goals, two were saved by Bobby Shuttleworth and the other three beat the Revolution ‘keeper, but were cleared off the line by Fagundez (2x) and Nguyen.

8 – The match marked the eighth straight game the Revolution have conceded the first goal in the match and also the eighth straight game the team has conceded a first half goal. New England is a dreadful 1-11-1 when allowing the first goal this season.

8 – Dimitry Imbongo had just eight touches after entering the game in the 67th minute, his first MLS appearance since March 22nd. Imbongo completed just two of five passes (40%), was caught offside, recorded a turnover, and fouled Parkhurst in his limited involvement.

9% – The Revolution attempted 23 crosses (from open play and set pieces) in the match and found teammates with just two of them. The Crew connected on 47% of their crosses, going 7 for 15.

12 – Both teams registered 12 shots, including 7 on goal each.

15 – New England won 15 corner kicks in the match. The club had nine in the first half, failing to truly threaten on any of them, before A.J. Soares scored on the team’s first corner of the second half.

48.7% – The Revolution had 48.7% of the possession on Saturday. The match marked the first time the Revolution had been out-possessed in a home match since their 2-1 win over D.C. United on May 24th.

52% – Ethan Finlay completed just 52% of his passes, the lowest of any starter in the match, but made up for it by scoring the winner in the 84th minute. New England’s Patrick Mullins (61%) and the Crew’s Chad Barson (60%) and Bernardo Anor (65%) were the only other starting field players with sub-70% passing accuracy.

75.1% – New England completed 75.1% of their passes on Saturday night, compared to 77.7% for the Crew.

92% – Former Revolution star and current Crew center back Michael Parkhurst led all players with 92% passing accuracy. Parkhurst’s 86.5% passing accuracy on the season is tied for 13th overall in the league and second among defenders, just a tenth of a percent behind Sporting Kansas City’s Matt Besler (86.6%).

149 – New England had 149 total passes in the attacking third, compared to just 83 for the Crew, but couldn’t convert that advantage into goals.

Reader Submitted Stat

557 – The Revolution have gone 557 minutes (including U.S. Open Cup, 467 MLS only) without a striker or midfielder scoring outside of from a penalty kick. The last time a striker or a midfielder scored from the run of play for New England was Saer Sene in the 3-1 loss to the Philadelphia Union in Foxboro on June 28th. Thanks to New England Soccer Today reader James Perry for this stat:

@NESoccerToday the Revs are TERRIBLE at moment. They have gone 557 mins with out a goal from a forward/midfielder that WASNT a pk

About Sean Donahue

Sean Donahue serves as an editor and staff writer at New England Soccer Today. He has been covering the New England Revolution since 2002 for various publications. He has covered four MLS Cups, in addition to covering various international matches, including World Cup Qualifying and the CONCACAF Gold Cup. He has done freelance work for the Associated Press and ESPN Boston.
In 2014, Sean co-hosted New England Soccer Weekly on AM 1510 WMEX in Quincy. He hosted Revolution Recap, a weekly radio program covering the New England Revolution and U.S. Men's National Team from 2005-2008. He is a member of the North American Soccer Reporters. Sean can be reached at nesoccertoday@gmail.com or on Twitter @SeanLDonahue